Picanol



Aug. 18, 1959 J. PICANOL 2,899,986

REED ADJUSTMENT DEVICE FOR WEAVING LOOMS Filed Nov. '1-. 195a I J. PCCCLhOl, INVENTOR pm ATTOR/VE United States Patent REED ADJUSTMENT DEVICE FOR WEAVING LOOMS Jaime Picanol, Zillebeke-lez-Ypres, Belgium Application November 1, 1956, Serial No. 619,789

Claims priority, application Belgium December 17, 1955 1 Claim. (Cl. 139-192) Various means are known for adjusting the position of the reed, in order to place the same in a correct position with respect to the batten,i.e. parallel to the plane of the bufi'ers. In present-day looms such an adjustment is no longer sufiicient, because, though it permits to secure the reed, in itself, in the wanted angular position, it provides no means for accurate alignment of said reed with the flat vertical surfaces of the rear walls of the shuttle boxes at either side of said reed.

Now, in view of the ever increasing operating speed of present-day looms, it becomes increasingly important to provide for accurate guiding of the shuttle and to systematically eliminate all possible causes of trouble. Though the reeds are mutually interchangeable, according to the designer, they mostly are slightly different, particularly with respect to the shape and the dimensions of the lower and upper edges. At each change of reed therefore, some readjustment is required in order to ensure perfect alignment of the reed with the fiat vertical surfaces which laterally limit the path of the shuttle past the batten. Such accurate adjustment is the more important as the loom operates at higher speeds, because the least departure from the correct lateral guiding of the shuttle may cause either an irregular start or a misdirected arrival of the shuttle, whereby the latter strikes against the entrance of the shuttle-box, causing excessive wear and sometimes even leading to fracture of the shuttle and also to irregularities in the operation of the loom as well as in the fabric.

The accurate alignment of the reed with these flat vertical surfaces may apparently be obtained by proceeding in either of two ways: either the reed is maintained in a fixed position, while the position of the flat vertical surfaces is being modified relatively to said reed, or the fiat vertical surfaces are maintained in a fixed position, while the reed is being displaced. The first solution must be rejected as it entails modification of the initial position of the flat vertical surfaces, this being inacceptable inasmuch each of the vertical surfaces must, by necessity, accurately be kept in a precisely determined position with respect to the guide groove of the corresponding shuttle-box. If said position is modified, the regular course of the shuttle is disturbed with certainty.

Consequently the invention is concerned with adjusting means for the reed, wherewith the flat vertical surfaces are maintained in a fixed position whereas the reed is displaced so as to be brought in accurate alignment With said fixed surfaces, i.e. the surface of the reed facing the shuttle run way is brought into the plane common to both said vertical surfaces. For this purpose the reed tightening device, or at least the hindmost oblique clamping surface of the same, which supports the lower horizontal bar of the reed frame, is liable to vertical displacement, the upper edge of said reed being held in engagement with the upper cross-bar constituting an adjustable clamp member.

Due to this novel arrangement it is now possible, by raising or lowering the reed tightener, or at least the inclined wall of the latter supporting the lower horizontal bar of the reed frame, automatically to effectuate a forward or a backward movement of said reed. Said inclined wall capable of vertical movement acts, in fact, as a cam device. If the reed iightener or said inclined supporting wall is vertically displaced through the same distance all along its length, the reed will move forward or backward with all points of its lower edge moving through a same distance throughout. At the contrary, if said tightener or said inclined supporting surface is subjected to a greater displacement at one side than at the other side, the reed will be forwardly or backwardly displaced through a greater distance at one end than at the other. Thus it is possible, by very simple and swift man'- ual operations, to accurately adjust the position of the reed so as to ensure as well the correct angular position of said reed, as its accurate alignment with the flat vertical surfaces. To achieve this it sufiices to additionally effectuate an appropriate displacement of the cross-bar which serves as the upper support of the reed, in order to bring the latter in its correct position with respect to the flat vertical surfaces.

The possibility of vertical displacement of the reed tightener, or its inclined wall supporting the lower edge of the reed, may be realised by various essentially different means, and this also applies to the adjusting means used for the top of the reed.

One embodiment will hereinafter be described in more detail, with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein:

Figure 1 is. a schematic side elevation view of the essential elements of a loom, in suflicient detail to show the location of the reed adjusting device according to the invention;

Figure 2 shows schematically and very succinctly the reed adjustment device of the invention;

Figure 3 is a side elevational, partially sectional View of an embodiment of the adjustment device according to the invention.

'tightener 2 and the upper support 3. Both said lower and upper supporting elements, together with the adjusting means pertaining thereto, constitute the main object of the present invention.

As shown schematically and very succinctly in Figure 2, the reed tightener comprises a fixed inclined Wall 5 and a movable inclined wall 6, the latter being liable to vertical displacement and adapted to be fixed in any wanted position,,both said inclined walls acting as supporting elements for the lower horizontal bar 4 of the reed.

The upper supporting element clamping the reed at its upper horizontal bar 7, may be displaced in any desired direction in order to place the reed 1 in the plane of the fiat vertical surface at either side of said reed, either after the inclined wall 6 has previously been displaced, or by reason of maladjustment due to any fortuitous cause. The displacement of said upper supporting element may be realised by shifting walls such as schematically indicated at 8 and 9 (Figure 2.), or by rotational or composite movements; such movements may be realised in a simple way, inasmuch they are only required to effectuate angular displacement of the reed 1 on all of its length about the longitudinal axis of the lower horizontal bar 4, or about another axis or other axes, in order to locally straighten the reed, this being also attainable by means of composite movements of all kinds.

The reed tightening device 2, as well as the means for adjusting and securing the same, may be realised in for anyone skilled in the art. Similarly, the movable upper supporting element 3 with its adjusting and fixing means may havevarious shapes and dimensions,

As'an example, but without'any restrictive or limita- 'oblique wall of a fixed; cross-bar 10, and simultaneously 'upon the oblique surface 6 of a cross;member 11, the latter being guided for vertical movement. The inclined surfaces 5 6 oppose each other to form a'V -shaped profile, the lower horizontal bar 4 of 'the reed being sup ported in the hollow of said 'V-shape'd profile". The vertically movable cross member 11 rests with'its' lower edge upon adjusting screws 12, permitting adjustment of the height of said cross member, said screws going through threaded holes in the lower side of an angle-iron 13, means such as lock nuts 14 being provided to firmly lock said screws 12 on said angle iron 13. By means of bolts 16 said verticall'y movable cross member 11' may be firmly secured to said .angle'iron 13 itself fixedly mounted on the batten shown at 15. Said bolts 16 go through adequate ope'ningsin said cross member 11 as well as through the vertical side of said angle iron 13 and I the rearward cross-bar '17 fixed on the batten 15. The aforesaid fixed cross-bar rests on another fixed crossbar 18, the aforesaid bolts 16 also passing through the latter, whereby said second fixed cross-bar 18 is secured to said angle-iron 13-. The'vertically movable cross-member 11 has, in register with the bolts 16', openings with a greater diameter than. the diameter of said bolts, so as to clear said bolts'by a certain distance. The above mentioned fixed cross-bar 10 has lengthwise, at the front side, a projecting edge 19 overhanging the inclined surface 5, whereby the vertical displacement of the reed 1 is upwardly limited. The upper supporting member 3 of the reed, in the embodiment shown, is constituted by the cross-bar 20 having a V-shaped groove in its downward facing surface, the upper horizonal bar 7 of the the respective adjustments of the reed may be etfectuated in an exceedingly simple way and with great precision. In fact, if for instance the reed is indeed parallel with the plane of the flat vertical surfaces, but situated in a plane e.g. in front of that of said flat vertical surfaces it will be required to shift the reed slightly backward while maintaining it parallel to itself. To achieve this, it suffices to loosen the bolts 16 and the lock nuts 14, and to turn the adjustment screws in the required direction, all

through the same angle, in order to lift the adjustable cross-bar 11 the same distance throughout its length. By

so doing the lower horizontal bar 4 of the reed is urged upward and rearward by the action of the sloping surface 6. By this operation the reed is slightly tilted, and v in order to bring it back in a perfectly parallel plane to that of the flat vertical surfaces it suflices to loosen the bolts 22 of the upper supporting member, and to turn the adjusting screws 25so as to shift the position of the upper horizontal bar 7 of the reed. By successive adjustments such as described above the reed is shifted until its plane coincides with that of the flat vertical surfaces. When this has. been achieved the only remaining thing to be done, is'to tighten the bolts 16 and 22 and to lock the adjusting screws 12 and 25 by means of lock nuts 14 and 26 respectively. If the reedis parallel with the plane of the fiat vertical surfaces, but situated in a plane in rear of that of the fiat vertical surfaces, the operations are the same as for the previous case, but for turning the adjustment screws 12 and 25 in the reverse direction so as to cause the vertically movable cross member 11 to drop, and the cross-bar 20 together with the upper horizontal bar 7 of the reed, to shift forward.

Finally, if the plane of the reed is not parallel with that of the flat vertical surfaces, local adjustments may be achieved by turning each of the adjustment screws 12 and 25 individually in the right direction and through an adequate angle, in order to set the reed in the correct angular position and in the plane of the flat vertical surfaces. It'Wlll be understood that the sloping planes .5 and 6 as well as the associated adjusting and locking means, no less than the upper supporting member 3 together with its adjusting and locking means, may be realised in vari- V ous other ways, without departing from the scope of the invention.

What I claim is:

A device for tightening the reed of a weaving loom having'a batten, said reed having upper and lower horizontal bars, said device comprising a fixed cross-bar having an oblique wall, a cross-member having an inclined surface, said oblique wall and said inclined surface forming a V-shaped profile supporting the lower horizontal bar of groove formed upon a downwardly facing surface thereof, the upper horizontal bar of the reed resting within said V-shaped groove, an adjusting slab between the lastmentioned cross-bar andthe batten, and an adjusting bolt carried by the batten and engaging the lower end'of said adjusting slab for shifting the last-mentioned cross-bar horizontally.

References Cited in the file of this patent V UNITED STATES PATENTS f Bergstrom i; Oct. 2, 1951 

